I can't write a poem a day in November, of all months. Nor could I (ever?) write a novel in a month. No NaPo(a day)WriMo or NaNoWriMo for me!
But not one to leave ALL the challenges to everyone else, I have challenged myself to write a poem a week. Not just any old poem, I'm going to try writing one inspired by Tricia's Monday Poetry Stretch. This week, the stretch was to write a cinquain, and Tricia totally rescued this form for me. Lo and behold, cinquains were NOT invented to test a writer's knowledge of the parts of speech! They are more like a Japanese tanka, and follow a syllable pattern in the 5 lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.
It was threatening to rain on Wednesday after school, so I kept the Environmental Club kids close to the building as we gathered gorgeously-colored fallen leaves from the Maples, Sweet Gums, and Bradford Pears out front.
When we brought our treasures inside, I had art supplies ready, and in less than 5 minutes, there was a creative hum in the room as the students tried to capture the beauty of the sky and trees on their paper. Vivaldi's Four Seasons played in the background.